BIR collection falls P3.3-billion short of June target

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) collected P59.366 billion in June or P3.3 billion short of the revised target for the month of P62.668 billion.

BIR Commissioner Kim Henares said the revised target for June is based on the new full-year revenue goal of P860 billion.

Earlier, the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), the interagency group that sets the country’s macroeconomic assumptions, revised upward the BIR revenue goal to P860 billion from P830 billion previously.

Henares said under the P830-billion target, the BIR set the original target for June at P60.483 billion, which would have shown a shortfall of about P1.12-billion or -1.8 percent.

The June figures brought collections during the six-month period to P403.469 billion, or P17.53 billion below the revised cumulative goal of P420.996 billion.

“Compared to the same period last year, this year’s collections in the first six months reflected a growth of 7.42 percent or an excess of P27.86 billion,” Henares said.

Cumulative collections last year amounted to P375.611 billion.

Despite the shortfall, Hena-res vowed to do all she can to meet the yearend BIR target.

“Meeting the yearend target is crucial for the country as a whole because the taxes generated will be used to fund vital expenditures necessary for stability and sustained economic expansion,” she said.

She said BIR would be stricter under her watch so that it would implement all the tax laws more efficiently.

The Aquino administration hopes to bring the tax effort to 15 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in a year, an improvement from the previous government’s target to bring this to 13 percent of GDP.

The tax effort measures the government’s ability to increase tax collection that is commensurate with the growth of the economy.

In the first quarter of the year, the government’s tax effort improved to 12.3 percent of GDP from the 11.6 percent of GDP recorded in the same period in 2009.

In 2009, the government’s tax effort slid to 12.8 percent or way below the programmed 14.4 percent for the period due to a host of reasons including rampant corruption, weakened economy and the implementation of the so-called revenue-eroding measures.